


Season 15, but make it Chestervelle: The Big Empty

by TexanRanchGirl101



Series: Season 15, but make it Chestervelle [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:47:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24187645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TexanRanchGirl101/pseuds/TexanRanchGirl101
Summary: The first chapter is missing\altered scenes from my favorite episodes for the spnhiatuscreations challenge. I did top 8 because I ran out of time re-watching my top 30 ish to narrow it down, lol. If you are just here for that you can stop reading after the first chapter, but I am going to use those scenes to create a slightly augmented cannon for the rest of the fic which is set in mid-season 15.Future week's challenges might become chapters here as well or I might weave them into chapters for other WIPs, just follow the tag to keep up to date.
Relationships: Jo Harvelle/Dean Winchester
Series: Season 15, but make it Chestervelle [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1609459
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Season 15, but make it Chestervelle: The Big Empty

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter is missing\altered scenes from my favorite episodes for the spnhiatuscreations challenge. I did top 8 because I ran out of time re-watching my top 30 ish to narrow it down, lol. If you are just here for that you can stop reading after the first chapter, but I am going to use those scenes to create a slightly augmented cannon for the rest of the fic which is set in mid-season 15. 
> 
> Future week's challenges might become chapters here as well or I might weave them into chapters for other WIPs, just follow the tag to keep up to date.

Episode 2.6 - No Exit - After the solve, before Ellen shows up

Dean and Jo went to grab some grub and bring it back to the apartment where Sam was cleaning up their crap and probably nerding out about serial killers. "So how was your first case?" Dean asked looking over at Jo in the passenger seat of the impala. She smiled and put her right elbow on the armrest so she could rest her head on her hand. "Oh, you know. Piece of cake. I totally had it handled" She couldn't even get through it without cracking up laughing and he joined in. "No, but seriously. That Teresa girl is gonna live because of us. Feels good." "Yeah, yeah it does. Not like this job has a lot of perks, but that does make it worthwhile. When you're lucky enough to be able to save somebody, sometimes you're too late and just clean up the mess." Jo sat up a little straighter and rebutted "Yeah, but even then you save people. You just don't get to know who they are. I mean, it's not like the monsters you've stopped would have stopped killing after the victims that brought you to town. They never do. They just move on to another town" "True. It is nice to get to look em in the eye though" Dean agreed. "mmm. Hey Dean, who was the first person you ever saved?" Dean thought about it for a minute and smiled at the memory "It was in Flagstaff. I was workin this case with my dad. Couple of Djinn were targeting hikers, five had gone missing in the last three months, I figured out that it was this guy named Leo who worked as a park ranger. Anyway, he owned this creepy abandoned warehouse so we raided the place. My dad killed the guy, but I saved the girl. She couldn't have been older than 20, course I couldn't have been older than 14. Didn't matter though, I thought I was a big time superhero, until she looked at me funny and said 'thanks kid'. Honestly up until that moment I was on such a high I really thought we'd hook up" Jo laughed "ah ha ha, oh, that is adorable...Seriously though that's awesome. You've been saving people for so long by now, you've probably lost track of how many." "Yeah, well you'll get there too." He said as they were pulling into the parking lot of the apartment. "You think?" she asked, honestly surprised. "Yeah, yeah. I'll admit it, I was wrong, you've got potential. Good instincts, drive, you nailed the research part. Little bit of training you'll be a hell of a hunter." "Really?" Jo asked. "Definitely. Hell I'd be happy to show you the ropes myself. Take you along on a couple cases. I mean if you'd be into that kind of thing. I mean, well, I wouldn't mind spending a little more time with you. You know, if you want to." Dean said making direct eye contact at the end. They paused a little to long, she smiled and blushed a little when she noticed his eyes drift to her lips. He took the cue and leaned in just a little when they heard a slam on the hood "Joanna Beth Harvelle you get out of this car this instant!" 

Episode 3.8 -A Very Supernatural Christmas - Right after the scene in the wreath store.

He said he'd call her after Duluth and never did. It's not that he hadn't wanted to he just hadn't known what to say. He still didn't know what to say, still didn't want to get too involved and risk putting her in harms way, but he didn't have a lot of time left and he just hated the idea of never talking to her again. Even if they didn't really talk about anything. "Hey" Dean began awkwardly, he still felt odd calling without a reason. Well he had a reason, he wanted to hear her voice, but that's not something you can just tell somebody "Did you guys ever have a beer can Christmas wreath at the roadhouse?" Jo replied “Uummm, yeah, yeah we do. Why?” “You do? Like you have one right now?” Dean said surprised. Jo chuckled “Yeah, we do. Why are you so into wreaths all the sudden? No offense, but you never really struck me as the home décor type” He laughed “Ha, yeah, yeah, I’m _really_ not. I was just, I was just remembering this one Christmas when my dad stole us a wreath from a liquor store. Well, I guess bars do it too. I always liked those” He said with a nostalgic tone. “Yeah, you wouldn’t if you had to make em, friggin impossible not to cut yourself. If I turn vengeful spirit and the body’s already been burned, you’ll wanna torch that first. Bled all over the damn thing” Dean cringed a little her talking about being dead. It just didn’t sit right. “ah, come on, don’t talk like that…I mean, I’m sure it, it looks great.” Jo got suspicious and replied, her tone prying “Dean. What’s going on with you? Everything okay?” Crap. She knows somethings up “Yeah, yeah, I’m just having a little trouble getting Sammy into the holiday spirit this year, thought I’d try something.” “Hm. I didn’t know you were so into Christmas. Why is Sam not into it?” ah crap, gotta keep lying, not like I can tell her he’s upset about me dying soon. She’s possibly the last person I want to know I sold my friggin soul. “Ah, he’s just never been a holiday guy. In fairness we are hunting an evil Santa, does put a damper on things.” She snort-laughed in a way that made him think beer was probably coming out of her nose “What!??!” Dean chuckled “Ah yeah, I didn’t tell you about that? There are guys getting sucked up through chimneys like Santa and killed. Sammy thought it was some anti-Claus, looks like it’s actually Pagan gods. Man, that would’ve been a trip though huh.” ‘Miss’ he heard through the phone, probably some grumpy old guy drinking alone at Christmas time. “One sec” she hollered over her shoulder before adding “Yeah, it would’ve been. Look, I gotta go, but if you finish up your case early you can always come by the roadhouse. We do it up right around the holidays, you should see it.” He smiled and bobbed his head down “Yeah, that sounds nice. I hope we finish in time…. well I’ll let you go.” “Yeah. Oh, hey Dean!” “Yeah?” she paused “Merry Christmas” He smiled again “Merry Christmas Jo”. Man, that would be nice. Well, let’s go kill some gods and haul ass to Nebraska. 

Episode 5.10 - Abandon All Hope - Right after Cas' calls Dean to give them Crowley's location and tells them it's warded, he says "we'll take it from here" and hangs up

"So you and me against a boatload of demons?" Sam asked. Dean sighed and replied "Yeah, we're gonna need some help" he pulled out his phone and started scrolling through numbers "Jo and Ellen just wrapped up a job in Milwaukee, maybe they'll swing by and help out." Sam scrunch up his brow in confusion "How did you know that?" Dean stopped texting and looked up from his phone "What? Oh, I talked to Jo yesterday. She said they killed a ghoul, and that that place with the cheese curds lived up to the hype. You remember that place? Anthony's? Antonio's?" Sam chuckled at him "Since when do you call Jo to chat about cheese curds?" Dean put his phone away and crossed his arms over his chest, clearly getting fidgety and defensive. He said a little shortly "I don't know, a while, what's it matter?" "Cause it does, how long a while?" Dean sighed "I don't know, we used to talk sometimes before I died. A while after I came back I called her to let her know I was alive and since then we'd talk jobs or food if we knew of a good place in the town the other one was heading to. Nothing major, just hunter stuff." "Uh huh, I thought she was pissed at you after she found out about our dads. I mean I didn't think you'd even seen her outside of Duluth and River Pass" Sam replied confused and skeptical. "And I haven't. I mean I haven't seen her, I just talked to her a few times, texted some. No big deal" Sam huffed and looked down then back up "If it was no big deal why didn't you tell me?" Dean leaned back against the counter in bobby house, broke eye contact with Sam and breathed "Cause sometimes I talk to her about you." He paused and covered the serious moment with a chuckle and continued "Look man it's been a rough couple years and things got complicated between the two of us more than once. I needed somebody to talk to about it. Or not talk to about it. Hell just somebody to talk about nothin with who wouldn't push....I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I just wanted to keep it to myself for a while." Sam smiled "It's okay. I get it, I mean if I had that I probably wouldn't tell you either" They both laughed a little and then Dean's phone dinged. He picked it up and read the text. "They'll be here in 2 hours. Let's come up with a plan" 

Episode 5.14 - My Bloody Valentine - The drive back to Bobby's after Sam kills Famine

"Inside...you're already dead" the words rang around his head like some annoying pop song he heard in a gas station and couldn't scrub from his brain. Only a helluva lot worse cause the nonsense lyrics to California gurls didn't hold the disturbing ring of truth and, thankfully, weren't about him. He couldn't deny that Famine wasn't totally wrong... I mean, he'd been through the ringer a time or two, but this? I mean, up against Heaven. And Hell come to think of it. With brother he clearly couldn't completely trust, I mean he loves Sam. He always will, no matter what, but the demon blood, and the demons, and the lying. It was cause for concern to say the least, even before the freaky mind thing in the diner. After, it was downright scary. Not to mention Bobby stuck in that chair for the rest of his life because he wouldn't kill him, Jo dead because of him...

Well there it is. That's the one isn't it, I mean not that the rest doesn't suck, cause it really really sucks, but that's the one you don't come back from isn't it? All the other crap. All the disappointment, at least it wasn't over. Bobby can adapt, it'll be hard, but he's a tough son of a bitch. Sam was broken, but he was still there, still his brother...mostly. Not that he could really talk to him anymore, he was too busy worrying about him, and he couldn't talk to Jo anymore. So he couldn't talk to anybody. Because the people who used to get it broke and\or died.

To be honest he wasn't totally sure they still had a snowball's chance of stopping the apocalypse, but it could still happen, it wasn't likely, but he still had moves to make, work to do. He just wasn't really sure anymore why he was supposed to care. Oh he'll do it anyway, cause hell that's the job ain't it? Saving people, hunting things, the family business. Oh he'd keep going through the motions until it killed him, which it probably would, but he'd lost too much to even hope for a victory without casualties and he wasn't sure he could lose anyone else. 

That being said he didn't really feel like he had anybody left _to_ lose. If he was really being honest with himself, he'd already lost his brother, cause he'll never be the same. And he lost the girl. And somewhere in there he lost hope too. So I guess the horseman was pretty much dead on. Which is friggin creepy. As if getting full body hugged by a fat naked cupid wasn't disturbing enough... 

Episode 5.16 - Dark Side of the Moon - One of Dean's good memories, between flagstaff and the night Sam ditched him for Stanford. The scene from 2.6 where Dean and Jo talk about their memories of their dads

"Morning princess" Jo's voice greeted after they'd closed the door of the crappy apartment in Flagstaff. "Jo" Dean called out hopefully, but she didn't respond. He wasn't finding her again in heaven, the real her, there was just an echo of a memory along the road to the garden. Time to move along, he didn't need to watch this with Sammy, especially not when he was this pissed at him. "This? This is one of your best memories? This was 3 years ago in Philadelphia" Sam pried. "Yeah so?" Dean answered defensively. Sam rolled his eyes, annoyed that he was in trouble for something he couldn't control "So, your other happy memories were from childhood. Me when I was a kid, mom when you were. This seems too recent. Out of order" Dean shrugged annoyed and defensive "Yeah well, the first one I was 17 and the second one I was 4, so I don't think there's much of an order to it." Unless it was categories. The type of feeling Dean thought. They were all about connecting with the people he cared most about. "Huh" Sam interjected "What?" "Well, my memories were in chronological order. Yours must be in some kind of order too. Maybe order of importance, but I don't really see how this one ranks". Dean bit his bottom lip and retorted "Yeah well don't waste time trying to figure it out, let's just get out of here".

They both set about looking for the road which meant it was quiet enough to hear what Jo was saying "What do you remember about your dad? I mean what's the first thing that pops into your head? ...come on tell me.....He musta been proud.....I was still in pigtails when my dad died, but I remember him coming home from a hunt. He'd burst through that door like, oh, like Steve McQueen or something. He'd sweep me up in his arms and I'd breathe in that old leather jacket of his, and my mom who was sour and pissed from the moment he left, she started smiling again. And we. We were a family. You wanna know why I wanna do the job? For him. It's my way of being close to him. Now tell me what's wrong with that?" Dean had been watching her memorized and devastated the whole time she was telling her story, and Sam had been watching him watch her, not failing to note how upset he was. When the door opened and the fake memory Sam came through Dean cleared his throat and looked at the real Sam who was looking at him with such pity in his eyes he thought he might just punch him in the face. "Dean." "Don't. Let's just get outta here" "I'm sorry, I didn't realize she was so important to you." He sighed, debated answering with a pissed off 'yeah, well she was', but knew that'd start a whole conversation he didn't want to have right now, or, you know, ever. Luckily at the same time he made a note of the road on a calendar page "I'm not talking about this, here, here's the road". With that off they went to Sam's next happy memory of leaving him. Damn for heaven this sure feels like a punch to the nards. 

Episode 8.20 - Pac Man Fever - After they leave the coroners office, on the food run in the impala

"So all that stuff in the books really happened huh?" Charlie began. "Yeah, pretty much" Dean responded gruffly, he was still annoyed that those books even existed. "Even the lucky rabbits foot?" "Yeah" He nodded. "The trickster? The creepy hotel with all the dolls? The hunter who became a vampire? All that stuff with your dad? Ash!?!?" Dean had been nodding along the whole time and started laughing at the mention of ash before going right into a truly terrible impression "Oh yeah! Business in the front *hair toss* party in the back" Charlie laughed and continued "So then Ellen and Jo, they were real too?" Dean's whole demeanor changed. He put down his burrito, having suddenly lost his appetite, and reluctantly responded with a simple "Yeah". She sort of squinted at him with a expression of sympathy and a hesitant tone she asked "Everything? With H. H. Holmes, the demon town, the roadhouse burning,.....the hell-hounds?" Dean cleared his throat. He didn't want to be rude, I mean it was Charlie asking, he loved Charlie, but... "Look Charlie, I don't mean any offense, but this is just not something I talk about. Like ever." She tilted her head confused and a little concerned "Never, like never, not with anyone? Even Sam?" Dean shook his head, still looking down slightly, avoiding eye contact "No, not with Sam. Hell he was there, he saw what happened." After a long pause he continued "you know I actually saw her once. After she died I mean." Yeah?" Charlie asked lightly "Yeah. this Egyptian god Osiris summed her for my trial. That's his thing, he puts you on trail for your sins ans if you feel guilty at the end of it he sentences you to death." "Dick" Charlie interjected "Oh big time. Anyway, she was one of the witnesses at my trial, you know because it was my fault that she died-" "-It wasn't your fault Dean" He put up his hand in a 'you don't have to say the thing, I know, just let me talk' kind of gesture "So she was a witness and after I was found guilty Osiris sent her to kill me. Sam killed him in time that she didn't have to, obviously, but I did get to talk to her. You know for a little while, then she went away again.." his voice cracked a little at the end, but he covered it with a cough and gestured at the burrito like it was lodged in his throat or something. Charlie smiled sadly at him "It must've been nice. To get to see her again. Even under those circumstances." Dean pondered it for a minute and replied "Yeah, yeah it was. I just wish I knew where she was now you know. Heaven, the veil, I mean she died violent, but she didn't strike me as vengeful. I don't know if Osiris had the juice to pull somebody from heaven, but hell maybe he did." Charlie replied kindly "I'm sure she went to heaven, she seemed really great in the books. You know tough and cool and all, but, kind. Good." "Yeah she was" Dean breathed "she was good to have around, you know easy to talk to, just...she deserved a lot better than she got" Charlie hesitated, she knew this would be pushing a little too far, but she never could stand not knowing things. "You know the books made it seem like you two were gonna get together. Like if she hadn't died, something might've happened. Like maybe you wanted it to." Friggin Chuck. Did he have to put everything in those damn books?! How did he even know he had feelings for her, it's not like he ever told anybody. Can the guy read friggin minds or something? "Thought I said I didn't want to talk about this." Dean replied. 'That's a yes. It was all true' Charlie thought. What Dean didn't know was that she was being intentionally vague. The kiss was in the books, the degree to which he mourned her death was in the books, and the fact that he was in love with her was most definitely in the books. She just thought it would be better if he didn't know how many readers knew the tragic truth. 

Episode 12.22 -Who we are- alterations to the scene in Mary's head, with an extension of the scene where Dean an Mary talk in real life before Sam gets back

"You left us. Alone. Cause Dad was just a shell. His perfect wife? gone. Our perfect mom, the perfect family, was gone. And I, I had to be...more than just a brother. I had to be a father, and I had to be a mother, to keep him safe. And that wasn't fair. And I couldn't do it. And you wanna know what that was like? They killed the girl that he loved. They killed the girl that I loved. He got possessed by Lucifer. They tortured him in Hell. And he lost his soul. His soul. All because of you. All of it was because of you. I hate you. I hate you. And I love you. 'Cause I can't, I can't help it. You're my mom. And I understand. Cause I have made deals to save the ones I love. More than once. I forgive you. I forgive you. For all of it. Everything. On the other side of this, we can start over, okay? You, me, Sam. We can get it right this time, but I need you to fight. Right now, I need you to fight. I need - I need you to really look at me and see me. Mom, I need you to see me. Please." "Dean?" "Mom" And just like that, they were back in the bunker....with Ketch.

Once Ketch had been disposed of Dean had a chance to try and patch himself up and Mary set about cleaning up. "Found some expired prescription painkillers, lucky me. Mom you don't have to do that. It's not your job." Dean said to Mary. She looked around "This, all of this it's because of me." Dean replied "It'll be okay". "It's not okay. Since I've been back, I know, I've been distant. Cold even." Dean looked at the floor, he couldn't disagree, but he didn't want to be cruel. Didn't want to face it "Leaving you, working with them. I was trying to make things right, just from a distance because...being here with you, was too hard. Seeing what I'd done. To you. To Sam" She shook her head like she couldn't believe herself. Dean looked her in the eye again "What you did, the deal, everything that's happened since. Has made us who we are. And who we are? We kick ass. We save the world." She smiled.

"You said they killed the girl Sam loved....I knew, about Jessica. But you also said they killed the girl you loved. You never told me about a girl." Mary asked, really wanting to get to know the man her son had grown into. Dean snorted out a breath "Yeah, mom, I said a lot of things in there that we don't need to ever talk about again. I mean I was just trying to snap you out of it." Dean said trying to dodge the question. Mary continued gently "I know, but what you said was true, and despite my behavior lately...I really do want to know you. If she was an important part of your life I want to know about her. I want to know everything about your lives. Both of your lives." Dean chuckled lightly "You know there's some lighter stuff we could start with. I had a really good taco the other day" Mary tilted her head at him in an 'oh come on' gesture "Yeah, alright. But you can't tell Sam any of this okay? This is a mother/son thing, just between us."

Mary gave him a confused look "Sam didn't know her?" "No, he knew her, he just didn't know how I felt about her. Not completely anyway. You see, we weren't actually together. And yes I am aware of how pathetic that sounds. I mean it's not like I've never had a girlfriend before, I've had several, hell I was kind of a step-dad once. I mean we weren't married, and that wasn't changing, but we lived together, so I spent a lot of time with the kid. That's probably the most involved I ever got. You know 'officially'. There was a girl in Missouri too, a long, long time ago, back when Sammy was at school. But neither one of them really got the life you know. Not their fault, they were civilians. Cassie didn't even believe monsters were real. Lisa did, but she had a kid. You know, she didn't want to be dragged into this whole mess. Not that I can blame her, but, it's who I am you know. Hunting, Sam, it's my life, and I love it." Dean rambled out quickly. Mary nudged gently "Dean, you're stalling. Who was the girl you meant? The one you loved who _wasn't_ your girlfriend." Dean sighed lightly and smiled sadly before admitting the truth.

"Her name was Jo. Joanna Beth Harvelle. Her mom Ellen ran a hunter bar out in Nebraska. Her dad Bill had been a hunter before he died, he and Dad were friends. After dad died Ellen called him and got us, and that's how we met. She was young, and she was beautiful, and she'd always wanted to be a hunter just like her dad. I mean she grew up in the life just like us, not directly, but she grew up around hunters. Got good at the research side of things. Like scary good." Dean chuckled and got into that starry eyed story-teller mode "There was this guy Ash who used to work at the roadhouse. He was a friggin genius, went to MIT, could pick up on all kinds of crazy patterns. He and Jo we're practically family, he taught her, and Jo got to be awesome at tracking down monsters and demons and ghosts. Most well researched files I've ever seen outside of dad's on yellow eyes, and that was for every case. Not just the personal ones you know." Mary smiled "She sounds like a great hunter" "Yeah, well when we met she had never done any real field-work. She worked her first job with me and Sam, we stopped the ghost of H.H. Holmes, the serial killer. It was awesome.... But after that her mom told her that it was Dad who was responsible for Bill dying, just an accident on a hunt, but it was his fault. Then it was my fault that she died. Like father like son I guess." he cleared his throat before continuing "Uh anyway, we had a falling out after that, and then Sam got possessed by a demon and tried to kill her, ended up shooting me, and she pulled me out of the water and patched me up. We didn't really talk about it, but I guess we were pretty much good after that. I didn't want to get her blood on my hands so I kept my distance for a while, but uh, she was just always really good to talk to, so when some things got bad and I need somebody to talk to, I called her. And I kept calling, and we talked. A lot." He paused.

"I didn't see her in person for a while and a lot of stuff happened in between, but, well she always picked up. She always listened, hell I don't even know how, but she always managed to make me feel a little better. When it turned out she was close by when we needed help taking a shot at the devil I jumped at the chance to see her, and asked her to help out. Not that I didn't really need her help, I did, but mostly I just wanted to see her. And because of that when Meg, a demon, sicked a bunch of hell hounds on us and one of em had me pinned she turned back to blow it away and one of em got her. I ran over to her, carried her into a hardware store, tried to patch her up, but she was too far gone. We were trapped by the hell-hounds, had no way out. We we're gonna figure something out, but she was the only one who saw the situation for what it was. She wasn't gonna make it out of there. She came up with a plan, build a bomb, blow those bitches away, buy the rest of us some time to take the shot. Ellen wouldn't leave her, so they both died in that hardware store....I did at least get to say goodbye, got to kiss her goodbye, but that was it. She was 23, and she blew herself up in a hardware store in the middle of nowhere, because I had demons on my ass. This family. I swear it's like we're cursed or something. We all lose the women we love to some kind of hell-spawn. I shoulda just stayed away." "Dean, you couldn't have known that was going to happen, it wasn't on you" Dean snorted a sad laugh "Yeah that's exactly what she said....I saw her ghost a couple years after she died. She said it wasn't on me, that her life was good. But I had some plans. If she'd have lived I mean. I'm glad she found some kind of peace with her dying, I really am...but I never did. Cause it happened to me too." "I am so so sorry that that happened to you. Both of you." Dean smiled sadly in response "I know. I'm okay, really, I can handle it." Mary smiled "And Sam. I'm scared. What if he can't forgive me?" At that moment Sam walked through the door "Mom. You don't have to be scared of me." He pulled her into a tight hug and Dean clapped his hand on his shoulder "I'm glad you're back man" and joined in the family hug. This had been a very long day, but with everything out in the open Dean had a feeling their little family would be stronger. And as much as he hated it, it probably was good for him to talk about these things once every five years or so...God where's the whiskey. Again, very long day. 

Episode 14.10 - Nihilism - Basically it's just Jo instead of Pamela, because, come on. It totally should've been Jo. Established relationship

The country music twangs peacefully in Rocky's bar in the middle of a big storm when Jo walks in "That weather. Not even playing around. Everybody's shopping at the store like it's the end times. Milk and bread isles were a war zone. But I battled through it all for your stupid bag of limes." She teased as she came behind the bar to give him the limes. "Hey, I'm not makin' the house special without the limes. What are we savages?" he retorted lightly pulling her in for a kiss. 

"Tequila shot and a beer. Best damn house special ever." Dean announced cutting the limes. "No complaints here" Jo said downing a shot. "Mmm, is there any word from Sam?" "Still working that ghoul thing in Wichita with Cas'. They should be back tonight". The realtor came in out of the storm and Dean and Jo rolled their eyes at each other. "Wet one out there ain't it?" Jo said in a friendly welcoming manor. "Yes, and you are?" The realtor rudely dismissed. "Jo Winchester, co-owner, Dean's wife. We met the last time you stopped by, and the time before that" "Oh, Mr. Winchester" She said completely ignoring Jo "I brought the papers I mentioned. I know you said you weren't interested, but it's just a few signatures and you could -" Dean interrupted "Could I get you a drink?" "I'm in a bit of a rush". Dean nodded, finding her rudeness unbelievable "Well, sorry you wasted your trip out here but, um...Rocky's still isn't for sale." "Rocky's looks pretty dead, and it's a very generous offer" She replied, looking around disapprovingly. "Well, all the same, this bar? I've never had anything this nice. So that sale that you want so bad, well it's just not gonna happen." She slams her briefcase shut and storms out. "Like we'd ever sell the family bar" Dean snorted in Jo's direction after the door closed.

"You just gonna leave the drunk guy out there with all the booze" Dean questioned. "You mean that unconscious drunk guy? Yeah I am" Jo said smiling and pulling the door closed behind her, mischief in her eyes. "Ah, hell let him drink it all" he said as she climbed on his lap in his office chair and kissed him.

Some pissed off vampire came in looking to get revenge on Dean for killing his nest. Jo called him out into the bar and he cut his head off with startling efficiency. Getting blood splatter all over his face. Jo wetted a rag and went to clean him up. "How are there this many monsters that still want to kill you?" she lightly mocked. He grinned a cocky grin and replied "Well, what can I say? I'm famous"

When Sam and Cas' realized Dean would be hidden in contentment, not trauma, they should have realized he'd be with Jo. They didn't. So when they appeared in the bar and saw her alive, they were both stunned and confused. "Hey! There they are. Kill a ghoul, get a beer" Dean greeted. "Dean?" Sam asked. "Got this great IPA from Austin-cosmic cowboy. You're gonna love it." "Hey, Dean, what's going on here?" Sam asked. "What're you talking 'bout?" Dean replied. Jo walked out from the back "Sam? Cas'? Welcome back. I'm glad you're home safe. I was starting to worry. Don't tell Dean, he'll use it against me" She teased before hugging Sam. Apparently they had all gotten friendlier over the years. Cas' leaned over to Sam and said "Joanna bled to death in Carthage" "Yeah, she also burned in the explosion, so.." Sam responded. "What are you guys waiting for? Come on drink up" Dean interjected. Sam gestured stutteringly and a little desperately "None of-None of this is real okay? This bar, uh Jo" Jo looked a little offended and responded "Excuse me?" Dean mad a 'duh she's real' gesture and Cas' interjected "You're just a complex manifestation of Dean's memories. Designed to distract him." Jo rolled her eyes "Cas' we gotta teach you how to talk to women." Sam pleaded "You have to remember what's going on out in the real world." Dean looked outside confused "I know it's raining. What else do I need to know?" "No, I'm not talking about the rain, I'm talking about Michael." 

The loop reset and Sam saw them kissing in the office. "What's happening? How'd they get over there?" Dean popped back behind the bar and started cleaning mugs "So you guys gonna tell us about the hunt or what?" "Okay. W-what? You were just...What the hell is going on here?" "Okay, alright, now you're starting to worry me" Dean said giving Sam his full attention. Then the vampires popped in and Dean beheaded them quickly, getting blood splatter all over Sam and Cas'. Then it switched back to the first place in the loop. "You guys got real messy on that ghoul hunt huh?" Cas' scoffed "No, we didn't get messy on a hunt, we got messy just now, in this bar, in a vampire fight." Dean had a quizzical expression on his face and Jo chimed in "Maybe we should rethink the beers" "Yeah." Dean agreed wide eyed. "Okay, Dean, listen to me. I think you're stuck in a loop. In-in your mind. Michael is possessing you!" Sam implored Dean to listen to him. "Michael's in the cage" Dean corrected "Come on guys what is this some kind of a joke?" Cas' responded "No, no this is not a joke." Jo interrupted "Okay, okay, if we're in Dean's head, and I'm imaginary. How come you guys are real?" "We used the device. The device you used to get in moms head on you. That's how we're in here, but Jo is part of the dream. None of this is real. Nothing but the three of us. Jo is not real. Man we were there together when she was ripped apart by that hell hound" Dean had a sudden flash of memory, back to one of the worst days of his life, in Carthage, Jo shooting at the hell hound that had him and getting clawed up. He tilted his head to the side and looked at Jo "You got attacked by hell hounds" She responded nonchalantly "Yeah a while ago". And he suddenly saw the gashes appear under her shirt, saw the blood start to spread. "Dean, she didn't just get hurt. She died. She died helping us get a shot on Lucifer" Dean flashed back to the hardware store, to the explosion. Then back to the bar, and she was just gone. "Jo!" he screamed both pissed and horrified and looked around desperately as if she'd just gone to the storeroom. "No, no, no, no, no. Guys this is my life. Jo's alive, we're married, we own this bar. This - this is the dream." Sam turned away unable to contain his sympathy for his brother, but Cas' saw an opening and took it. "No, no, it's not. It's just _a_ dream, Dean. That's all it is. Please, you have to try to remember because the people in your life. In your real life. Out there. We need you to come back." Dean scoffs and refuses to believe it, Jo will be back any minute. Then Sam whispers "Poughkeepsie" and Dean remembered all the mind-blowingly upsetting crap he'd forgotten. 

The Michael walked in clapping "Hey Fellas" Dean had thought he hated Michael as much as it was possible to hate somebody. That was before he brought Jo into this. "Get outta my head!" He screamed. Michael stalled for a while, said a bunch of crap, they fought, and Dean managed to trap him in his mind. Serves him right, Hell even Dean didn't want to be stuck in his head, but he'd still find a way to kill him for this, and everything else.

When they were all back in the bunker and things were under control for the moment Sam gathered the courage to ask "So, owning a bar, married to Jo. That's your dream?" Dean stopped and sighed "Uh, look Sam, you can't talk to me about that stuff. I mean it was in my head, you weren't supposed to know about any of that. Hell I didn't even make it up, Michael did. You can't blame me for that" Sam chuckled "No, no, it's not about blame. I mean, um, it seemed nice. You-you don't need to be embarrassed. I'm just making conversation." Dean took another swig of whiskey and replied gruffly "Yeah, well pick another topic". Sam nodded, understanding probably better than anyone. "Okay. So what do we do next. How do we get Michael out of your head. Safely." Dean rolled his eyes, "Come on man, not that, like the friggin Knicks or something. Geez"


End file.
